["Psychologic marital unfitness" in cyclothymia? A case report on the topic of the annullment procedure in canon law].

According to the Canon Law (CIC) of the catholic church a marriage can be annulled because of psychological inability under certain conditions. We present the case report of a married woman, who fell ill with cyclothymia after her first childbirth. Her marriage was annulled under canon 1095 (n.3 CIC) because of psychological inability to fulfill martial obligations. The authors believe that this represents a clear cut case of discrimination against patients with mental disorders: on the one hand the catholic church claims that every martial bond is principally indissoluble; on the other hand they do not eschew invalidating a marriage due to an affective psychosis. This poses special problems which are also discussed.